AS YOU LIKE IT (International Actors Ensemble/Alex Theatre)****

 

By Cal

Link to 29^th November performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHGXRWCb5JQ

Available until: Unknown, but there are three recordings of this event. This is the 29^th November performance. There were also performances on 28^th and 30^th November.

It’s always interesting watching plays on Zoom and seeing into actors’ homes, but in this play, I really enjoyed the use of backgrounds to give a sense of place. The International Actors Ensemble has taken advantage of this option and although all the actors have slightly different screens, it does look like they’re all in the same place. It worked really well, especially as much of the play took place in a really lovely bluebell wood. Wish I was there! I’ll happily swap November for summer.

The only exception to the background rule seems to be Alexander Sovronsky, who provides Amiens’ brilliant singing voice. It might sound a bit unusual to have one Amiens for speaking and one for singing, but it actually works well. The actor Amiens is part of the story and the singer Amiens provides musical insterludes. And don’t forget, there are two characters called Jaques and two called Oliver. So having two called Amiens could almost be called consistency!

Campbell Connolly is a gentler Rosalind than usual, but it works. Her acting is subtle but very clever. Although Rosalind is quiet, she has a magnetism about her that makes you want to listen – and she’s worth listening to. She speaks the text beautifully.

Another advantage of the quieter Rosalind is that she’s perfectly-suited to Luke Toniolo’s Orlando. He’s a romantic, and although he’ll get involved in the action when necessary, he’s also the guy who sticks pieces of paper to half the trees in the forest proclaiming his love (this was very cleverly-done with the background – he stuck smaller pieces of paper to the trees which were furthest away), so it makes sense for him to be an ardent character. Aashiq says it’s only appropriate in the Forest of Ardent.

It’s actually Celia and Oliver who are the more robust pair. Madeline Moore is very funny as Celia and Stephen Whiley’s sneering Oliver is fun and it’s interesting to see him change as a character.

However, it’s Renata Wimer as Touchstone who keeps stealing the scenes. Her comic timing is brilliant and she puts so much into her characterisation with the perfect costume and some very impressive physical acting. Valentina Vinci’s delightful Audrey is perfect for him. She is also a hilarious Le Beau. Valentina is a regular with Shake-Scene Shakespeare so I’m looking forward to seeing her in some more roles.

The fourth couple perhaps can’t look forward to the same happiness, but Amy Bradney-George’s smiley, teasing Phebe and Aaron T. Moore’s sweet, rambling Silvius (so different from his dignified and powerful Duke Frederick) are great to watch.

Paul Robertson’s Duke Senior has a sense of nobility even when exiled, while his Dennis is wonderfully chilled. David Meadows turns in brilliantly-contrasted performances as the melancholy Jaques and amusingly menacing Charles. I must also mention the other Jaques, Oliver and Orlando’s brother, played by Bradley Storer. He gives the role a sense of mischief that makes me wish Shakespeare had used him a lot more. The second brother had a much bigger role in The Tale of Gamelyn, the story on which Shakespeare’s source, Thomas Lodge’s Rosalynde, was based.

This is a very enjoyable production of As You Like It and I look forward to watching The International Actors Ensemble’s other plays.